Mediagazer: Give Journalists the Right Metrics, Not Pay-for-Performance (Tony Haile/American Journalism Review)

4:10 PM ET, April 15, 2014

Top News:

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Margaret Sullivan / New York Times:

Former Pulitzer juror's opinion: the prizes stay relevant by providing benchmarks, inspiration — What's the Point of the Pulitzers? — Do the Pulitzer Prizes still matter? Do they stand for anything except journalistic self-congratulation? The question comes up every year around this time.

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Roy Greenslade / Guardian:

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Wall Street Journal:

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Justin Ellis / Nieman Journalism Lab:

INNovation fund backs eight projects from news nonprofits with an eye towards sustainability — A public radio app that aggregates user-generated content, a food education night with a tasting menu, and a WordPress tool that helps track the influence of stories.

Discussion: Investigative News Network and @virtualex

Brian Steinberg / Variety:

NBCUniversal To Launch Video Series Via Hulu, Web and VOD — With pitches slated in next few weeks from digital players like YouTube and AOL, NBCU makes a play to keep digital ad dollars from migrating to rivals — NBCUniversal is best known for the hundreds of TV shows it airs on its broadcast and cable outlets.

Discussion: Home Media Magazine, The Wrap and @bristei

Tony Haile / American Journalism Review:

Give Journalists the Right Metrics, Not Pay-for-Performance — That there is even a debate about whether newsrooms should have access to metrics is in some ways surprising. Of all the professions, journalists are some of the most inquisitive, tenacious and focused upon the impact of their work.

Discussion: Gigaom, @annaleighclark, @burtherman, @carr2n, @jeffjarvis and AJR.org

Ricardo Bilton / Digiday:

Why some publishers are killing their comment sections — The promise of the Internet, we are often told, is the opportunity to have a two-way dialogue. Anyone visiting a publisher's comment section, however, might wonder whether that's a promise or a threat. — Internet comments have long been a conundrum.

Discussion: Nieman Journalism Lab and @digiday

Alex Kantrowitz / AdAge:

New Look AOL Homepage Puts Video Front and Center — Ahead of NewFronts, AOL Puts New Video Player Front and Center — How Advertising Performs in a Social Media World … AOL's recently declared plans to “double down” on video appear to be taking shape.

Discussion: FishbowlNY, @maymann and TechCrunch

Lucia Moses / Digiday:

Why do journalists hate new journalism startups? — A flurry of journalists have been launching news sites lately, each with a formidable amount of hype, but rather than applaud this as a golden age for journalism, the media echo chamber was quick to pull out the knives.

Discussion: @digiday, @adnansiddiqi, @raju and @neo_maditla

Kristen Hare / Poynter:

Thunderdome hosts informal job fair for employees — For most of the staff at Digital First Media's Project Thunderdome, Thursday will be the last day at work. — But over bagels and coffee Wednesday morning or a drink Wednesday evening, they might meet their next employer.

Discussion: Meg Wagner

Jack Newsham / Poynter:

Afghan journalists boycott Taliban after murder of AFP reporter — Afghanistan journalists attempt a boycott after death of reporter — On Thursday, March 20, at a celebration of the Persian New Year in Kabul's posh Serena Hotel, four young men attacked partygoers with small handguns …